WE JOIN AN INTERIOR DESIGNER AT A SITE MEETING OF A GEORGIAN STYLED NEW BUILD IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND TAKE A QUICK TOUR OF HER HOME AND DESIGN STUDIO! ARRGGHHHHH! DREAM. COME. TRUE! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE getting a glimpse into the working lives of Interior Designers! REAL glimpses, not the one-sided and heavily edited insights we see on shows like Interior Design Masters. Where the general public are shown lots of cushion plumping, unrealistic budgets and compliant Tradesmen! But these shows have a very specific objective and that’s to create drama via a big reveal (although they ..read more

WE’VE LAUNCHED BRAND NEW CANVA MOOD BOARD TEMPLATES FOR INTERIOR DESIGN! AUTOMATE YOUR DESIGN PROCESS BY USING CANVA TEMPLATES. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO PRESENT YOUR DESIGNS QUICKLY, WITHOUT COMPROMISING ON QUALITY. We ask you for feedback quite regularly and we listen to the challenges you share in our Facebook Group. When I asked what challenges you, as Interior Designers (or students!), encounter when creating mood boards you said the following: you can spend countless HOURS creating ONE mood board; this usually consists of moving images AIMLESSLY around the s ..read more

We decided to create a video tutorial on how we created a Photoshop mood board (via one of our new Photoshop templates – more on this in a separate post!) using Pinterest. This was in response to a lot of requests from Interior Design professionals and students, who kept informing us of their personal challenges when it came to sourcing the right images for their mood boards. In our mood board course and our new templates for Interior Designers, we always advise you to use the right style and compostion of image in addition to using one of our recommended layouts; whether it’s a grid style moo ..read more

OK, WE HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED LAST YEAR AND WE’RE ONLY GETTING AROUND TO BLOGGING ABOUT IT NOW! OOPS! We love inspiring and positive stories, just like the next person, so we decided to share this (belated) news anyway! If you watch the awesome Interior Design Masters shows on BBC (and Netflix!), you’ll most likely be familiar with the dashing Carpenter that appears intermittedly in each episode. Unassuming and incredibly talented, he’s a literal superhero with tape measure in hand, attempting to make dodgy furniture plans into real life works of art. And he usually ..read more

WE TAKE A LOOK AT A RECENT MOOD BOARD WE CREATED FOR A ‘CLASSIC MODERN’ INTERIOR DESIGN SCHEME AND HOW WE ENSURED IT WAS STRUCTURED, BALANCED AND COHESIVE; WITH THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CREATIVE FLAIR AND INDIVIDUALITY. We’ve all been there; staring at a blank screen on our computer trying to muster up the energy, inspiration and know-how to produce a stunning mood board that encompasses everything we’re trying to propose for a new interior design scheme, to help our client/target audience understand our vision for this space but also help us stand out as experts in our field.   Here’s the tru ..read more

Many, many years ago, when I was young and impressionable, I was quite addicted to Changing Rooms. The Changing Rooms of the 90’s and 00’s that had a bit of everything for everyone: eye candy for the ladies or gents (Oliver Heath, anyone?!) bright, family-friendly personas (Carol Smillie – the clue is in the name) and sometimes, SOMEtimes they would unveil an ok design scheme.   Changing Rooms Dining Makeover Oliver Heath Rag Rolling   The Changing Rooms of the 90’s encouraged us to experiment with our homes in a simplistic and creative way to unleash our individuality; from ..read more

THE CLIENT BRIEF IS THE STARTING POINT OF EVERY INTERIOR DESIGN PROJECT AND ENSURES THAT AN INTERIOR DESIGNER IS SUCCESSFUL AT PRODUCING A FINAL DESIGN THAT MEETS THE CLIENT’S NEEDS.   It’s so important that an Interior Designer has a full understanding of the client’s design preferences, lifestyle and how he/she uses the space so that the final design captures the individuality of the occupants, but also enhances their daily lives on a visual, emotional and practical level. But for the Designer, it’s also an essential tool to help provide direction, kick start the creative design pr ..read more

WE THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE SUPER EASY: CREATE A NEW MOOD BOARD COURSE THAT TEACHES INTERIOR DESIGNERS HOW TO PRODUCE PROFESSIONAL MOOD BOARDS (INCLUDING PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES) AND SIT BACK WHILE OUR STUDENTS PUMP OUT AWESOME MOOD BOARDS.   BUT IT DIDN’T QUITE WORK OUT LIKE THIS… Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of excited Interior Designers taking our new mood board course, and they were creating better mood boards but there was a fundamental issue that we kept witnessing, every time we saw a new mood board posted in our Facebook Group or on Instagram. Interior Designers we ..read more

We decided to raise our game this week and challenged ourselves to produce a client presentation that represented an Interior Design business that had quite a fresh, contemporary approach.  With the digital revolution and more people choosing Interior Design as a profession, we now have Interior Design services that are becoming increasingly affordable and accessible. The current Pandemic has also forced business owners to think outside the box in terms of their online approach. Now is a great time for Designers to inject a strong signature style and brand presence in their client present ..read more